The Kids Are Not Alright
by QTR
Summary: A case at a school soon puts Sara and Catherine's lives in jeopardy. What happens when the case shows similarities to something going on in Catherine's own daughter's life? CS friendship. Ch 7 posted.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: The Kids Are Not Alright**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: CSI is called in to investigate an apparent homicide at a high school. But they have two problems: no one's talking, and a kid is dead. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters!**

**Author's Notes: This idea came to me after I had a quite… disturbing… dream one night. I woke up, and though the dream was graphic and made me tremble just thinking about it… I thought it would make for a very interesting story scenario. Most of the characters in this story were inspired by my dream, and another reason I wanted to write this story was because I wanted to try and show how trapped some kids feel in school (though this is truly blown out of proportion). I hope you guys enjoy it!**

Books, paper, pencils, sweat, and that lumpy stuff on your cafeteria lunch tray that was supposedly mashed potatoes. That was what popped into Sara Sidle's mind when school was mentioned. Particularly, Sara was not a big fan of school, and she never had been. She was seen as the over-achiever, something that the teachers adored and the other students resented. To the other students Sara was just another geek, another nerd, another nobody. And that was why Sara hated it as much as she did. It wasn't that she hated the academic part, she loved to learn, but it was the environment she was forced into in order to do so that struck a chord with her.

And so needless to say that Ms. Sidle was not exactly all that thrilled when she was handed the assignment sheet she was. When she had first looked at it, it was nothing exciting or new; four-nineteen. She had worked her fair share of four-nineteens so she knew what to expect. But there were still those cases that made her feel like a kid who was just asked by his parents to clean his room and this case happened to be one of them.

Four-nineteen at the high school near the I-15 interstate. Sara had driven past it enough times but had never really paid that much attention to it. To her it just looked like any other high school; flag pole in front by the office building that wasn't exactly necessary, red-orange brick buildings and windows at the very tops of the sides of the building. The assignment sheet said that a male voice called 9-1-1 and demanded that the police were sent down right away. At first the police thought maybe the body was someone who had been hit in front of the building; it was by the interstate so it wouldn't be a surprise if someone had been hit by a car not looking both ways as they crossed the street. But when the police got there they realized that this was not a hit-and-run or an accidental homicide.

So that was where Sara was called in, after all she was the one with the silver box and shiny little toys. Driving over to the scene, she couldn't help but feel a wave of impending doom fall upon her. She felt like just another science nerd, the way she did when she used to walk to school in the mornings. She half-expected the same ass that used to skate up behind her on his skateboard to appear.

Pulling up to the scene, Sara reluctantly got out of her SUV with a sigh and headed to the trunk to retrieve her kit. After popping the trunk and heaving the large box out of the back, she headed toward the entrance of the building in order to greet Brass inside. Walking down the hallway, she turned her head from side-to-side, noting the various flyers put up for try-outs for choir and the chess club.

Once actually inside the building, Sara definitely knew she was in a school. All schools had that smell to it, and this school was no different. But one smell didn't belong and Sara could figure out what it was right away. It was the familiar metallic copper smell she had come to have fill her nostrils as often as car exhaust did. There was no doubt that something indeed happened.

Walking through the school between the two rows of teal-colored lockers, Sara scrunched up her face. Damn, the smell was so strong! Sara was skilled and surely not new to the world of dead bodies and blood, but… there sure seemed to be a lot of it, and it still managed to sometimes make her stomach turn. She stopped when she spotted the body lying in a pool of what was assumed to be the victim's blood. There was a bloody gash covering the left side of their head and blood stained the victim's orange and white sports jacket. Jock, Sara assumed.

Slowly setting down her kit, Sara reached into her back pocket and retrieved a pair of gloves, slapping them on. As she was about to take a step she looked down just in time to avoid stepping in the ever-growing blood pool. She felt like she was a kid trying not to walk on the lava, having to walk on certain parts of the floor in order to preserve the evidence. Looking down at her watch, Sara noted that the coroner should be there soon, so she opened her kit and got to work on gathering trace from the body without moving it.

Just as she was about to take a sample of blood, Brass and another man walked down the hall in front of her. "Look, I'm just asking if you touched anything," Brass calmly told the man.

"Hell no! With that smell?" the man asked. "I clean the bathrooms, I take out the trash, but I've never smelt anything that bad!"

"Alright, so what can you tell me?" Brass asked, taking out his notepad.

Sara couldn't help but smile a little as she swabbed the puddle of the blood, unobtrusively eavesdropping in the conversation.

The man just sighed. "I was walking down the hallway and…"

"What were you doing here after school hours?" Brass asked. "Obviously you're not a student here," he said with a small smile.

"I told you, I'm the goddamn janitor," the man replied. "See this crap I have on?" he asked him, tugging on his blue scrubs. "I didn't go to no Macy's and pick this up, man. It's uniform."

"Alright, so tell me what happened next," Brass urged him.

"I was going down the hall to take out the trash near the teacher's lounge," he explained. "Last trash bag of the night. It's the furthest away from the dumpster so I try and save it for last."

"What, you… save it to give yourself something to look forward to?" Brass asked. And then with a smile, he clarified, "Last bag, last job, you get to go home?"

"No way, I still had to clean out the urinals, make sure the boss' toe-nail clippings are cleaned off his desk. I wasn't lookin' forward to nothing, man."

"Hey," Brass said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was just trying to make conversation," he reasoned. "So anyways, what happened next?"

"I was walking down the hallway and one of the lockers flies open; happens all the time, though, so at first I wasn't all that surprised. Not all the kids remember to put their locks on the doors, and so if something falls out the door will fly open, along with whatever other crap they've got filled in there. Y'know, I have to pick their stuff up all the time, I deserve a raise."

"Well, you were the good Samaritan and called 9-1-1," Brass shrugged.

"Damn right I did," the janitor replied. "So instead of some kid's Gameboy or… condoms," he said, making Sara and Brass both shoot a look at each other. "This kid falls out. First I thought it was just another poor sap that had gotten stuffed in the lockers, y'know, but then I saw the blood. As soon as I noticed the kid was dead I called you guys."

"And you didn't touch anything," Brass said.

"No! I've told you, man!" he replied. "How many times do I gotta tell you?"

"Alright, well…" Brass said, squinting to read the name etched on his scrubs with a Sharpie. "Louis, if we have any more questions, can we contact you here?"

"Yeah," Louis said, wiping his mouth off with his hand. "Sure, whatever… am I done now?"

"Not exactly," Sara spoke up. "Sir, we're going to need your clothes."

Louis quickly turned around, looking over at Sara. "What? No, I'm not stripping in front of no cops."

"Either you give us the clothes, or you're going downtown to lock-up, your choice," Brass cheerfully told him.

After the reluctant janitor handed over his clothes, David came and began to examine the body. "Alright, well… just coming out of rigor," he observed, "So I'd say dead less than twenty-four hours. Size of the wound is massive," he told Sara, motioning to the gash on the back of his head. "It looks to be where the most blood came from, but he also has a ton of other injuries and various bruises. We'll know more after autopsy, but right now it's looking like blunt-force trauma," he said.

"From… a fall, maybe?" Sara suggested.

"Look at these," David said, slowly lifting the victim's sleeve up. "Ligature marks. I would say it's a homicide. He was held down or tied up."

Sara frowned, kneeling down and reaching into the victim's blood-stained jean pocket. Finding a black leather wallet, she opened it up in search of an ID. "Kid's a minor," she sighed. "But no surprises there, I suppose," she mused. "His name is Kevin Jameson; school ID, lunch tickets… hall passes," she said, taking out various cards in his wallet. Opening up the little flap inside, she said, "Money's gone."

"So either the kid was broke, or…" David trailed off.

"Or someone took it," Sara said, "Sounds like motive to me."

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing! **

Wiping a drop of sweat away from her forehead with her arm, Sara let out a long, tired sigh. She had been at this high school for hours now taking swab after swab of the puddle of blood the victim was lying in order to determine whether or not it was all his back at the lab. The smell was beginning to make her feel a bit light-headed, and she was sure that she wasn't going to exactly smell like roses either when she got back to the lab.

"_You smell like death,"_ Sara could hear Greg's voice ringing in her ears.

Lifting up a small plastic bag containing the victim's wallet and other personal effects, Sara headed out of the building to get some fresh air and to store more evidence. Walking outside she was surprised to see that the sun had started to go down, which only made her realize that she really _had_ been there for as long as she'd guessed. After depositing the evidence bags into the trunk of her car, Sara reached into her kit and took out a water bottle, opening it and gulping it down greedily.

Throwing the empty water bottle into her car, Sara closed up her trunk only in time to see a line of SUVs parking in the school parking lot. Soon the familiar forms of Catherine, Nick and Warrick were visible in the remaining purple-and-orange-tinted sunlight. Crossing her arms over her chest, Sara walked over to them, taking her sunglasses off. "What are you guys doing here?" Sara asked, sounding a bit harsher than she intended to.

"Nice to see you too, Sar," Nick said with his signature Texan smile.

"Grissom sent us," Catherine shrugged. "He said you might need a hand.

Sara couldn't help but feel as though Grissom sent them because he didn't trust her. This was _her_ case. If he hadn't have thought she could handle it, then why the hell did he give her the assignment in the first place?

"So ya want to… fill us in?" Warrick asked, shifting the grip he had on the handle of his silver crime-scene kit.

Sara just sighed. "Kid was found dead by the janitor in the hallway. Guy says he fell out of the locker and called 9-1-1 when he saw the blood. The victim's name was Kevin Jameson," Sara explained as they walked toward the school. "School ID was found in his pocket. I'm guessing he was a football player judging from his sports jacket."

"You're a little quick to judge, aren't you, Sar?" Nick asked with a small smile as Sara shot him a look.

"That's a safe assumption," Catherine shrugged. "So if he _was_ a jock, that might give someone motive."

"We're thinking the motive was robbery," Sara said, "All of his money was missing from his wallet."

"He could've been broke," Warrick suggested.

"I don't think so, though," Nick said, shaking his head. "When you were in high school, were you ever caught without any money?"

"True…" Warrick trailed off.

"Hey, Cath…" Nick said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "What did you mean by motive being the fact that he was a jock?"

Catherine just smiled a little. "Well, not everyone likes jocks," she shrugged. "They tend to make other people feel inferior because they're generally popular and in pretty good physical shape."

Sara looked over at Nick and Warrick with teasing smiles. "So, uh… you guys weren't jocks, right?"

"Hell no," Warrick said. "Like I told Cath- I had thick glasses, big feet…"

Nick shrugged. "I was what you would call average in that field, I suppose."

"Alright, so anyways," Catherine said, looking over at Sara. "Where do you need us?" Catherine knew this was Sara's case, and the second Grissom had suggested they go over to help her she knew Sara was going to be a bit pissed off. Catherine knew that Sara liked to be in charge of her cases, and she didn't want any help unless she asked for it.

"Nick, Warrick, could you guys go process the locker the victim fell out of?" Sara asked. "Do a thorough scope; fibers, hairs, blood samples, everything."

"We know how to process a scene, Sar," Nick smiled, heading off with Warrick.

"Oh hell!" Warrick yelled when he saw the giant puddle of blood. "Someone didn't like this kid."

Catherine looked over at Sara with a raised brow. "Where do you need me?"

"Why don't you—" Sara paused when she heard voices coming from outside. "…Hang on a minute," she told Catherine, jogging over to the front of the school.

"Sara, where are you going?" Catherine asked, walking after her.

"Shh…" Sara said, putting her hand up to silence her. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Catherine asked, shooting her a confused look. But then she heard it, too. Voices, and none of them were familiar to her. "…Sara, I think maybe you should get away from the door," Catherine advised her. There was a strong possibility that the suspect was still at the scene, seeing how this was a huge campus, or the possibility that the suspect had returned to try and hide the body. Catherine, having already been attacked at a crime-scene, didn't want to take any chances. "Sara…" she warned.

Sara slowly crept around the corner, keeping one hand trained on her gun. Swallowing her fear, Sara opened the door leading outside, almost screaming when someone ran into her.

"SARA!" Catherine yelled, quickly unholstering her gun and pointing it at the person who had rammed into her.

"Where is he? I have to see Kevin!" the person said. Sara composed herself and finally got a good look at the person. She was another student, Sara thought, judging by her varsity cheerleading outfit. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, staring up at Sara with anxiety.

"This is a crime-scene," Sara quickly said, re-holstering her weapon. "You can't be here. You're going to contaminate the scene…"

"Crime-scene?" the girl whispered. "What…? What happened?"

Sara looked at the girl, swallowing as she prepared to tell her what happened. "We're investigating a homicide."

"No…" the girl whispered. "Kevin! No! KEVIN!" she screamed, trying to run past Sara. Sara quickly grabbed the girl around her shoulders, trying to restrain her from trespassing into the scene. "LET ME GO! I HAVE TO SEE KEVIN!"

"He's not here anymore," Sara calmly told her. "The coroners came and took his body for autopsy."

"You don't understand," the girl whispered, fresh tears stinging at her eyes. "He's my boyfriend. I'm Ashley, he… he didn't ask for me…?" she whispered.

"He was already dead when we got here," Sara told her. "…I'm sorry for your loss."

As soon as the girl began to break down in sobs, the doors opened and an officer stepped through the doors, resting his hands on his knees as he panted. "I'm sorry," he panted, "I tried to… stop her… but… she ran."

Sara just shook her head at the officer as she led the girl to a bench, completely ignoring Catherine who was staring at her dumbfounded. "Ashley… what's your last name?" she quietly asked her once she was sitting down.

"I can't tell you that," Ashley whispered, shaking her head back and forth.

"Ashley, you can tell me anything…" Sara told her, sitting down beside her. "And the more we know, the faster we can help find who did this to Kevin."

"No, you… don't understand," Ashley whispered, choking down the bile forming in her throat.

"What don't I understand, Ashley…?" Sara asked.

Ashley wiped her eyes, looking around from side-to-side. "No one… no one else is here, right?" she whispered.

"Just us," Sara assured her. "Crime-scene investigators and police, but that's it."

Ashley nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around herself. "Could we go somewhere else?" she whispered.

"Sure," Sara told her, slowly getting to her feet. "Let's, um… walk around," she suggested, motioning toward the door. As she passed Catherine, Sara told her, "Go help Nick and Warrick with the locker and the blood pool," as quietly as she could so Ashley couldn't hear her.

"Blood pool?" Ashley asked, feeling her stomach jerk. Running outside, she emptied the contents of her stomach into the trash can and Sara quickly jogged up behind her, putting a supportive hand on her back.

"Ashley… do you have any idea who could've done this?" Sara quietly asked her.

Ashley looked up at Sara, slowly nodding her head. "Yeah… yeah, I do," she whispered. "But I can't tell you that."

"Why not?" Sara asked, puzzled.

"Because they'll know I told you," she whispered. "They always know."

Sara reluctantly nodded slowly in understanding. "Ashley, were you here at the school at all today?"

"Yeah," Ashley nodded, sniffling. "I went out to the football field for cheerleading practice and then I took a shower in the girl's locker room," she told her.

"When was the last time you saw Kevin?" Sara asked her.

"Last night," Ashley told her. "We went out and saw a movie and then went to dinner. He drove me home and that was it," she whispered.

Sara nodded slowly. "Thanks," she told her. "Go get some sleep," she suggested, turning to walk back into the building.

"Ms. Sidle?" Ashley quickly asked. Sara turned around. "…I'm sorry I can't help you anymore," she whispered, "But believe me… by the end of the night, you're going to be just as terrified as the rest of us."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to all who have been reading and/or reviewing!**

"You doing okay?"

Sara practically jumped when she heard the familiar concerned voice of Catherine directed at her. Nodding fervently for indication that she was indeed alright, she took a sip from the Styrofoam cup of coffee Brass had brought for them that morning as sort of a pick-me-up. "Yeah, I'm fine," she assured her.

"You sure?" Catherine asked. "You've been acting a bit strange since you talked to Ashley."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sara told her, "I just don't understand why she can't tell us her last name, or why she can't tell us who did this to the vic."

"There must be a good reason," Catherine mused.

"Of course there's a good reason," Sara said, reaching into her kit for another pair of gloves. "Either she's trying to protect someone, she's terrified out of her mind, or she has something to hide."

"So you're saying that you think she might have something to do with the death of her _boyfriend_?" Catherine asked.

"All suspects are innocent until proven guilty," Sara recited, slapping a glove onto her hand. "But if she had something to do with this, then of course she's going to try and lead us in the wrong direction."

"That's true, but she looked pretty torn up about his death," Catherine suggested.

"Everyone looks torn-up, Cath," Sara said, leaning down to grab her kit. "Whether or not they actually are, though, is the question," she told her, heading back toward the entrance of the school.

"Hey, are you staying here?" Catherine asked, quickly jogging up behind her, her keys jangling in her hands. "It's late… well…" Catherine said, looking down at her watch. "Early, actually," she said, "We've been at the scene for twelve hours, do you want to go grab an early breakfast?"

"You go ahead, I still have to process the girl's locker room," Sara told her, propping one of the doors open.

"What's in the locker room?" Catherine asked, tilting her head.

"Want to come find out?" Sara asked, a grin slowly creeping its way onto her mouth.

"Don't mind if I do," Catherine smiled, running back to her car to retrieve her kit. Ignoring the loud rumbling of her stomach (Catherine figured Sara needed the help anyway), Catherine accompanied Sara back into the high school, its teal-colored rows of lockers and beige-tiled floors forever etching their image into her mind.

Passing the area where the body was found- which was now encircled in yellow crime-scene tape, the message running across it in big black letters quite obvious- Sara and Catherine both crinkled up their noses as the air was still thick with the metallic smell of blood. The blood pool that had been around the body was still present despite the janitor's pleads for them to let him clean it up ("I'm gonna lose my job, man, Old Man Perkins' ain't gonna be too happy none about this.").

"So what exactly are we looking for in here?" Catherine asked as they rounded the corner and headed into the girl's locker room. It was a fairly large room set aside in the school with about five or six showers each with three faucets positioned overhead.

"Ashley said she was here yesterday," Sara said, setting her kit down and looking around. "She said she came to the football field for cheerleading practice and then came in here to take a shower." Looking around, Sara couldn't help but frown; there were no curtains on any of the showers. Sara never understood why the showers never had curtains. There was a little thing called 'privacy' that most every teen girl craved more than anything in the world (almost more than the perfect body or dream car), and at school and everywhere else privacy had been something Sara coveted above most anything else.

She remembered her high school's locker room; open showers, each of which could fit about five girls altogether at the same time. She remembered how crowded it used to be; girls shoving each other out of the way and clawing to get to the sinks and mirrors to make sure they looked good for their twenty-year-old drug-dealing boyfriends. Sara had always tried to make herself invisible which was something that she thought herself to be very good at. She usually tried to hide out until no more girls were in the room so she could shower alone in peace, but things really occurred in her favor.

And now that she thought about it, she remembered that one of the girls that had seemed to be bent on making sure Sara was absolutely miserable all six hours of the day that she was at school was named Ashley. A little devil spawn of absolute evil, Ashley was of those damned _popular _girls that had the huge following and group of cronies just as rotten as she was. Ashley, though, was rotten to the core. She was the Mistress of the Damned.

No matter how much Sara had tried to hide herself or cover her body up (some days she even brought her own towels to try and cover herself up in), Ashley always managed to see her somehow. And once Ashley had seen her, they had _all_ seen her. They had _all_ seen the bruises; they had _all_ seen the old scars. And instead of suspecting that something was terribly and dreadfully wrong in the Sidle household, they made fun of her for it by assuming something else.

"_SUIsidle!" Ashley teased, bumping into Sara on her way to the sink. "SUIsidle, SUIsidle, SUIsidle!" she began to mercilessly chant at her, waiting for the other girls to join in._

_Soon the entire locker room was chanting Ashley's humiliating (and incorrect analysis of Sara's injuries) chant, all of them pointing fingers and laughing at her like hyenas. _

"_SUIsidle!" Ashley screamed. "Looks like you really tried to end it this time, Sara!" she told her, pointing to her own stomach for indication._

_Sara looked down at her stomach, seeing the long bloody gash she had been referring to that had been a result of her father's nightly rampage for the first time. Of course they wouldn't know that, though, and that just made her another subject for their daily torture._

"_SUIsidle, SUIsidle, SUISIDLE!" the girls continued to chant, their voices echoing throughout the halls and only becoming louder and louder with each time they opened their mouths._

"_Eeew!" one of the girls squeaked, covering their mouth with one of their hands and pointing at Sara. "She's _bleeding_!"_

_Sara looked down at herself and noticed the small delicate trail of blood descending down her stomach. Damn it, she thought, damn it, damn it, damn it… If she had seen it earlier she would've been able to bandage it, but it probably would've become visible from the shower water anyways, so her attempts were in vain._

"_Clean it up, Sara!" Ashley told her, "If you want to kill yourself, do it somewhere else!"_

_Sara felt like Carrie from the Stephen King novel and that she had started her period for the first time, except there was the noticeable absence of flying tampons._

"…probative…" Sara heard Catherine's voice slowly bringing her back to reality.

"…What?" Sara asked, looking over at Catherine. "I'm sorry, I was… thinking."

"I said that we're looking for something probative that may lead us to believe that she had something to do with the death of her boyfriend?" Catherine asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Yes," Sara said, nodding quickly, "Blood, hair, anything. If we find any of the vic's blood or hair in the drains, then that means Ashley may have been at the crime-scene," she said, opening her kit and grabbing some swabs. "Or even, that she may be the killer," she explained, heading over to the first shower on the left-hand side of the locker room.

"You really think she could've done it?" Catherine asked, following Sara over to the shower and kneeling down beside her.

"Anyone's capable of anything, Catherine," Sara said breathlessly as she lay down flat in the floor of the shower and reached down to open the drain grate. _My mother was._ "Get me the phenolphthalein, will you?" she asked her.

Catherine just nodded, walking off to retrieve the small plastic bottle. "But if she's telling the truth…" she trailed off.

"Then we'll just have to go where the evidence tells us," Sara said simply, taking the bottle from her. Swabbing the inside of the drain, she squeezed the bottle and watched as a single clear drop fell onto the swab, turning it bright pink. "But right now it looks like we may have our killer," she said, looking over at Catherine.

"A cheerleader, maybe… killing her boyfriend in a jealous rage? There's enough jealous teenage girls in the world as it is, maybe this one just cracked," Catherine said, shrugging her shoulder.

"Give me an M-U-R-D-E-R," Sara said, closing up the swab. "Put it all together…"

"And that spells murder, my friend," Catherine said.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, guys, but thank you to all who have been reading and reviewing this far along in the story! This is going to turn into a Cath/Sara friendship (the last chapter told me that's where it wanted to go, so I'm not arguing ;)). As always, I do not own CSI:, and I also do not own the song or lyrics to The Kids Aren't Alright by The Offspring.**

"No, I don't know when I'm going to be home."

How many times Catherine Willows had had this same conversation with her daughter were needless to say countless. Sitting on the bench in the locker room, she had stopped in mid shoe-change when she heard her cell phone ringing, and had held back a groan as she noticed who was calling on the caller ID (how had Lindsey gotten her work number, she wondered?). The conversation was the same as usual- when are you going to be home?, can I go to a friend's house?, the movie's only going to let out at 10:30, it's not that late so why can't I go? - it was a wonder Catherine's own mother ever got anything done, she thought, because Lindsey was definitely just like Catherine was at her age.

"Listen, I'm working on a hard case right now, alright, so I'd appreciate a little sympathy," Catherine irritably muttered back into her phone. Teenagers just had that ability to make you feel guilty about _everything_, and when they ran out of things to use to make you feel horrible about yourself, they brought up things from the past, for example, the dance recital you couldn't make it to because you had to work overtime.

"**You're _always _working on a hard case."**

That was the truth.

"Yeah… yeah, I know," Catherine sighed, beginning to cool down. "And I'm sorry that I can't spend more time with you, I really am, but I've been really busy lately."

"**So can I go to the movie?"**

Catherine sighed- she had fallen into the trap once again. "When does it let out again?"

"**10:30."**

"Absolutely not, it's a school night, Linds!" Catherine immediately replied, her eyes widening in some sort of astonishment that she would even ask. "Who would be able to take you there, anyway?"

"**Grandma, duh! She wants me out of the house anyways so I don't bug her while she's watching her stupid soaps."**

"Oh, and what, you expect me to let her just drop you off there by yourself? You think _she_ would even drop you off there by yourself?" Catherine asked, finally getting her new change of shoes on.

"**I was going to meet friends there!"**

Catherine tried not to roll her eyes as she let out a half-scoff, half-laugh. "Yeah, which friends?"

The second Catherine heard even just the slightest hesitation of an answer from her daughter over the other line she knew instantly who she was talking about. "Josh? No, I don't think so. I told you to stop hanging around him, Lindsey!" Josh was one of those kids you could just look at and tell was bad news… and Catherine didn't want her daughter to make the same mistakes she did with Eddie.

"**But Mom, he's a cool guy!"**

"I don't care if he's the coolest guy on the planet- you're _not_ going to the movies with him alone!" Catherine said firmly. "End of discussion. Stay in tonight and finish your homework, you said you had a history test on Wednesday?"

"**I hate you."**

And then the phone clicked. Catherine hung up her phone and shut it with a heavy sigh, lowering her head and rubbing her right temple in hopes of soothing the headache she was getting before it fully surfaced. She had heard those same three words coming from her daughter everyday for almost the past year. Sometimes Catherine wished she didn't work so that she could spend more time with her daughter- and in order to put a tighter reign on her- but she knew that she couldn't afford to give it up now… and not only that, but she _liked_ her job, and Lindsey couldn't seem to see that.

Lost in her thoughts, Catherine failed to notice Sara standing in the doorway of the locker room, leaning against the frame until she cleared her throat.

She immediately turned around and shot her a small smile. "Hey."

"Hey," Sara replied with a small nod, "DNA's with Wendy right now, she said she'd page us with the results."

"Good," Catherine nodded, looking down at the floor with a tired sigh. "So now… we wait."

Sara just nodded, observing Catherine's body language, and she couldn't help but frown at what she saw. In truth now Sara felt a bit guilty having Catherine accompany her inside the school to get the samples from the girl's locker room- they had been at the scene for hours, already starting to break into their second shift, and she was obviously exhausted. Sometimes Sara cursed her love for science and discovery. "You okay?" she finally asked.

"What?" Catherine asked, getting to her feet and looking over at the other woman. "Oh, yeah," she finally said, nodding her head for indication. "Why do you ask?"

Sara nodded her head a little down at her cell phone that was lying closed on the bench beside her, shooting her an understanding smile. "I heard just a little…" she assured her.

Catherine just sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "Yeah, that was Lindsey."

"So I gathered," Sara said with a small smile.

"And according to my daughter I am a terrible person who won't let her live her own life because I am never home and never spend enough time with her to realize that she isn't a baby anymore," Catherine continued with a sigh, turning her lock until it clicked off her locker. So lost in her own thoughts, Catherine actually failed to realize what she was saying, or who she was saying it to, for that matter. She had never really ever had just straight girl-talk with Sara before.

"That sounds like your average teenager," Sara said, watching her reach into her locker. "You know you're not, though, right?"

"Know I'm not what?" Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow as she grabbed her bag from inside her locker.

"A terrible person," Sara clarified.

Catherine couldn't hide her smile as she closed her locker back up. "Well, I appreciate it, but apparently my daughter thinks otherwise," she told her, walking through the doorway and passing Sara on her way out.

"Oh, hey," Sara said quickly, taking a step toward her, "You going somewhere?"

Catherine blinked, motioning toward the front doors. "I didn't really have any plans. I was just going to head home." In truth, Catherine really didn't know where she was going to go. At the moment home didn't sound very appetizing, what with her mother nagging at her and telling her she was working too hard and her daughter there to complain about how horrible she was making her life. She loved both of them, but she was _tired_.

"Oh, uh, well…" Sara said, throwing her hands up in the air. "I was just going to say that if you wanted… we could go grab an early dinner. DNA shouldn't be done for a few hours," Sara told her.

Staring at Sara a bit surprised, Catherine smiled. Sara knew- she _always_ knew. She had that gift of being able to read people. "Sure," she told her, "That sounds nice."

The car ride to the restaurant was filled with silence, awkward coughs, the hum of the car's engine and the faint noise of the radio in the background. Both Sara and Catherine didn't really know why there was this sudden silence… but it was a bit unnerving to say the least. Unnerving and uncomfortable. Catherine wasn't used to this sort of silence; even with Grissom in the car, they at least talked about the crime-scene as they were heading over to the town's latest 419. "So how'd you hear about this place?" Catherine finally asked, referring to the restaurant they were headed to.

"I found it the day I arrived in Vegas, actually," Sara told her, throwing a glance her way, "It was late… I was hungry. It was open," she shrugged, stopping the car at a red-light. "I was new to the town, what can I say? It took me only a few days to realize that everything's open at 1:00 am in Vegas."

Catherine laughed, nodding her head. "Yeah, me too," she told her, looking out the windshield. "And you still remember where it is, huh?"

Sara shot her a small grin through the rear-view mirror. "It's kind of a funny story, actually. It was right next to the hotel I was staying at, so I just walked across the street. At the time I wasn't thinking twice about what part of town I was in, let alone if it was bad or not," she continued, "But I went inside and ordered some food, and I kept noticing that everyone was staring at me like I was some sort of side-show attraction that had suddenly grown two legs and walked over there off the Strip," she laughed.

"So after I ate I left and headed back toward my hotel. Well, as I was waiting for the light to turn red at the cross-walk, this woman comes up to me," Sara said, "Heavy make-up, thin as a rail, five-inch stilettos, feather boa," she listed, "You would've thought she was Paris Hilton."

"So what did you do?" Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow, now quite interested.

"I didn't do anything, actually," Sara said, "I was just standing there waiting for the light to change, and she asks me if the people at the hotel gave good tips."

"…Tips?" Catherine asked, raising both eyebrows.

"Tips," Sara confirmed, throwing another glance her way, raising an eyebrow as her sunglasses slowly slid down the bridge of her nose.

"…You're not serious," Catherine grinned, trying not to start laughing.

"Yes I am!" Sara laughed, turning back toward the road as the car began to move again. "She was a hooker. Apparently I have that hooker-look."

Catherine just laughed, shaking her head back and forth. "That was a nice first night in Vegas, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, right," Sara laughed, finally parking the car in the parking lot of the restaurant. "Ready?" she then asked, looking over at Catherine.

"I'm not going to be asked if they give good tips by a hooker, am I?" Catherine innocently asked.

Sara just laughed, playfully waving at her with her hand. "No, I don't think so."

With that the two women ventured inside the building, looking around as they got their first glimpse of the interior. It didn't look much different than it did all those years ago, Sara thought. There was some new upholstery work recently finished as both of them could see; the red leather booths were a dark blood red color, almost blindingly so, and if it was as old as Sara had said it was there was no way they had maintained that same shade through all these years. The floor was black and white tile that gave it sort of a 50s retro diner feel, complete with what people might call the 'old school' advertisements for Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

"This is just where I sat, too," Sara mused, looking over at one of the tables nearest the window. She took a seat and waited for Catherine to join her who followed shortly after, letting out a sigh as she looked around.

"Well this place doesn't look like it'd be a hangout for hookers," Catherine told her, raising an eyebrow.

Sara just laughed, looking down at the menu and scanning it with her eyes. Catherine watched her for a minute and finally looked down at the menu as well, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth- the menu looked pretty vegetarian-friendly from what she could see. No wonder Sara liked this place.

"So, uh…" Catherine blinked, averting her attention back to Sara as she heard her speak. "How is Lindsey doing, anyways?" Sara asked her.

Catherine shrugged a shoulder. "Same as last time, I suppose," she told her, "Why is it that teenagers nowadays have turned into narcissists?"

Sara couldn't hide her grin, "Well, Cath, look who her mom is."

Catherine scoffed, "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her tone sounding angry, but in a strictly playful manner.

"I'm just saying- if you weren't confident would you have become a dancer?" Sara simply asked, looking down at the menu once again.

Catherine laughed, "Alright, I might be confident, maybe even a bit arrogant at times, but I'm not in love with myself," Catherine stated as a waitress came over to take their orders.

One and half beers later, Catherine was feeling a bit adventurous. She couldn't help but notice the music playing in the background of the place, and then suddenly she was struck with an idea. And what an idea it was. Shooting a glance over at Sara who was still taking another swig of her second beer, her eyes flashed mischievously- the kind of mischievousness that only Catherine Willows could play out.

Finally setting her half-empty bottle down, Sara raised an eyebrow as she noticed Catherine staring at her. "Alright… what's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?" Sara suspiciously asked her, narrowing her eyes the slightest.

"What do you say, Sara?" Catherine asked her, motioning to the speakers positioned near the ceiling the blaring music were coming from, "Up for a little dancing?"

Sara instantly got that shy look to her face that Catherine despised every time she saw it; Sara was an outspoken, outgoing person, and Catherine knew that… the younger woman just chose to never show that side of herself to her friends. Well she wasn't going to let her deny it tonight. She wasn't going to go over there by herself and leave her here alone to nurse her beer.

"No, no, not me," Sara immediately replied, shaking her head back and forth- but Catherine noted the smile still present on her face. "I think I need a little more beer before I even consider going over there and making me look like an idiot. Besides, that's a Catherine-Willows thing."

"Oh _come on_, Sara," Catherine groaned, getting to her feet and leaving her beer behind on the table, "Just one song. That's all I ask, and then I'll leave you alone."

"No…" Sara shook her head, fighting back the smile on her face that was only growing bigger by the second, "You go ahead, I'll just wait here."

"Not tonight, Sara," Catherine told her, and before Sara could refuse again she had reached down and grabbed the other woman by her shoulders, pulling her up out of the booth and ushering her toward the dance floor. Despite Sara's protests, Catherine was mentally patting herself on the back. _You did it! _She told herself. She thought she might need a camera to take a picture of this just so she would believe it actually happened later on.

"But Cath, I really can't!" Sara persisted until she was pushed directly in the middle of the so-far-empty dance area, the lights flashing and booming above her, the music continuing to blare from the many speakers around her.

"Come on, Sara!" Catherine encouraged her, clapping her hands.

"But I can't dance!" Sara said again.

_Can't dance, huh?_ Catherine thought to herself with a sly grin. _I highly doubt that._ Even though it had been ages since Catherine had been dancing every night in the clubs, she knew a dancer when she saw one; that was one thing that had stuck with her through the years. She sure had seen enough girls walk the stage to be able to tell. And even though Sara never had shown any interest in performing let alone dancing, Catherine Willows knew for sure that Sara Sidle could at least _dance._ She had the legs, she had the ankles, and she had the hips.

"Just move your hips!" Catherine instructed her, nodding as a new song began to play. The second the song started to play Sara knew the spotlight was on her, and she looked over at Catherine, her eyes wide and afraid. "You'll be fine!" she assured her, "I promise!"

Sara didn't know exactly what happened next, but almost as if by themselves her hips began to sway to the music playing in the background, her feet instantly knowing exactly where to go. Looking over at Catherine, the smile returned to her face as she noticed Catherine was still cheering her on from the sidelines. Damn it, she thought, how did Catherine _know?_ How did that woman always _know?_ No one but Sara and her mirror were supposed to know about the days she got out of the shower and danced and sang in her bathroom, using her hair brush as a make-shift microphone.

"That's it!" Catherine told her, a wide grin crossing her face. She _knew_ it! And just as she thought, Sara was a natural. She immediately picked up on the beat and in mere seconds her body was moving in perfect time to the music. She didn't know who was having more fun actually- Sara or her.

As she noticed Sara beginning to really get into it, she decided that she was getting bored just watching and her legs couldn't keep themselves still for much longer. Without waiting for Sara's approval Catherine had joined her on the dance floor, and in moments they were both in synch with each other, almost like back-up dancers in some pop singer's music video.

And then the song was over. Catherine stopped moving as the music stopped, and she laughed as Sara almost fell on top of her as she lost her balance, "You okay?" Catherine asked her, helping her regain her footing.

"Yeah," Sara told her, laughing tiredly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"So…" Catherine trailed off as they headed back toward their table, "Where did you learn how to dance like that?" she asked her, sitting back down in the booth.

Sara let out another laugh as she sat back down in her own spot, grabbing her beer and taking a sip. "I had some old friends back in 'Frisco who taught me on the weekends," she explained, setting her beer back down.

"Well that was nice of them," Catherine smiled as another song started to play in the background.

"Yeah, I thought so too," Sara laughed, "They said I 'needed to get out more'," she said, making the quotations with her fingers.

Catherine just nodded as the new song began to fill the diner.

_When we were young the future was so bright_

_**Whoa**  
_

_The old neighborhood was so alive _

_**Whoa**_

_And every kid on the whole damn street_

_**Whoa**  
_

_Was gonna make it big in every beat._

"This song screams teenager already," Catherine grinned, looking over at Sara who only nodded in agreement.

_Now the neighborhood's cracked and torn _

_**Whoa  
**_

_The kids are grown up but their lives are worn_

_**Whoa**_

_  
How can one little street_

_  
Swallow so many lives?_

Catherine continued to listen to the lyrics, her smile slowly fading. This song screamed teenager alright… but it also screamed Lindsey… and made her mind scream at her that it was pointing in the direction her daughter seemed to be heading in.

_Chances blown  
nothing's free  
longing for  
what used to be  
still its hard  
hard to see  
fragile lives  
shattered dreams_

"_**I wanna be a for…fensic… a fensic scientist, just like you, Mommy!" little four-year-old Lindsey said, looking up at her mother with a wide, toothy grin.**_

Catherine stared into nothingness, her mouth hanging open as the sound continued to play mercilessly.

_Go!_

_Jamie had a chance, well she really did _

_**Whoa**_

_  
Instead she dropped out and had a couple of kids _

_**Whoa**_

_  
Mark still lives at home' cause he's got no job _

_**Whoa**_

_  
Just plays guitar, smokes a lot of pot _

_**Whoa**_

Catherine's eyes widened as images flashed before her eyes.

"_I'm sorry, Catherine," Doc Robbins told her as David wheeled a gurney into the morgue. "I paged you the second the body came in…"_

_Jay committed suicide _

_**Whoa**_

_  
Brandon OD'd and died _

_**Whoa**_

_  
What the hell is going on?_

_  
Cruelest dream, reality_

Catherine tried to shake the horrible thoughts from her head, but they just kept coming.

"_I'm really sorry, Cath," Nick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. _

"_Yeah, that's rough," Warrick sighed._

"_Where'd they find her?" Grissom asked, looking up at David as he helped Doc Robbins lift the body onto the metal slab._

"_Off of 1-15," David told him as they set the body down, "Someone driving down the highway called it in."_

_  
"Lindsey...?" Catherine whispered, taking a step forward, her hand slowly moving toward the white sheet over the frail body of her daughter._

"_I'm really sorry, Catherine," Doc Robbins said again as he pulled the sheet back to reveal her pale lifeless face._

"Can they turn this off!?" Catherine finally asked, feeling fresh tears stinging at her eyes as she looked over at Sara who only blankly stared at her in confusion. _"Please?" _she repeated almost urgently now.

Sara immediately got up from the booth and walked over to the front counter, asking the man at the cashier if they could turn the music off. Once it ceased from pouring from the speakers, Sara headed back over to Catherine, slowly sitting down next to her, "Cath…?" she quietly asked, "Cath, what's going on…?"

_Chances blown, nothings free_

_  
Longing for what used to be_

_  
Still, it's hard, hard to see_

_  
Fragile lives, shattered dreams_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading :) Updates should be sooner now! Here's a new chapter!**

"Cath, what's going on?" Sara repeated as she stormed out of the diner. Sara had to reach into her pockets and scramble for some cash before the owner of the place came after them with a broom in hand for not paying. After practically throwing the money at the man she ran out after her. "Cath, stop! I want to talk to you!"

Catherine didn't respond, anxiously and nervously heading toward the car. "I have to call her," she whispered to herself. Reaching into her pocket she took out her cell phone and hit Lindsey's speed-dial number, praying that she would pick up. _Don't be mad at me now, god please pick up the phone, Linds—_

"**You know what to do, leave a message. If you're Josh—"**

"Damn it," Catherine muttered. She _thought_ she had gotten through to Lindsey about Josh!

"Cath, what is it?" Sara asked, approaching behind her. Putting a cautious hand on her shoulder, she waited to see if she would even allow her to do so.

"Do you _have_ to know everything, Sara?" Catherine suddenly snapped, flipping around and shooting her a cold glare. She running too much on adrenaline and panic now to think too much of what she was saying. She was agitated and she was frustrated.

"Cath…" Sara whispered. She tried not to show the hurt in her eyes but she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"Just… get in the car," Catherine whispered. Opening the door, she got in the passenger's side and waited for Sara to go around to the driver's side. It was _Sara's_ car, she knew, but she felt like she was losing control of her daughter… the only thing in life that mattered to her anymore. She had vowed after Eddie's death that she was going to put tighter reigns on Lindsey, and that she was going to be around more often… and just like someone's New Year's Resolution it had failed.

Sara did as she told her and got in the car, closing the door behind her. She wasn't sure what was going on but if she had learned one thing about Catherine in their six years of working together it was to not push the issue with Ms. Willows. She couldn't blame her; Sara was the same way, perhaps the reason her PEAP counseling sessions were less than successful, but she wanted to know what was going on inside her head. It wasn't like Catherine to be this way.

As they got on the road to head back to the lab, the inside of the car was silent. The radio wasn't on and Sara dared not try and turn it on for fear that Catherine would snap at her. She wasn't scared of Catherine's temper but she didn't want to set her off more than she already had. Why was she so angry, though? She mentally played through the events of the night and things she said in her head.

They had had some beers, a few laughs and some fun on the dance floor at Sara's expense. Then that one song had came on and Catherine got agitated beyond belief.

That song… what was wrong with that _song_? Sara wondered. And then it hit her.

They had said it screamed teenager, and Sara now understood why it bothered Catherine so much. It screamed Lindsey. Sara had never spent a whole lot of time with Lindsey but whenever Catherine had brought her to the lab when she had to work because she couldn't leave her with her mother or sister that night, Sara had taken some time off to grab a cup of coffee and sit in the break room and visit with the little girl. She could afford to not max out on overtime for one month.

Not much to her surprise, Lindsey was like a small clone of Catherine. It amazed her how much she looked like her mother; she had the same blue eyes, the same strawberry-blonde hair, her same smile- honestly Sara didn't see one resemblance with her father. That was good though, she decided. Lindsey was such a talker, an energetic little girl with so much to say, and Sara had been more than willing to listen to her.

She hadn't talked to Lindsey much since she started hitting her preteen years. Those were the worst years, Sara knew from experience. She was pretty sure everyone knew. But from what Catherine had mentioned in the lab to Warrick and Nick Lindsey was starting to become more rebellious, just like any other teenager. She had mentioned that Lindsey wasn't talking to her anymore and was starting to get worse grades in school.

Sara knew Lindsey was a smart kid, so there had to be more to the story than that. When she was her age her mother wasn't exactly the first person she went to in order to talk about teen angst either.

But that song! Now replaying the lyrics in her mind as the engulfed silence in the car gave her time to think, Sara realized what thoughts were probably going through Catherine's mind. She wasn't a mother herself, but she understood.

"Cath…" Sara started.

"I don't want to talk, Sara," Catherine said bluntly. She knew Sara was going to give her some condescending speech about how it was best to talk things out, and she wasn't in the mood. Besides, how good was Sara at _talking things out_?

Sara grew silent as they arrived back at the lab. They both sat still in their seats for a minute before she broke the silence. "If you want, I can tell Grissom that you got sick and had to go home," she told her.

"What?" Catherine asked, looking over at Sara wide-eyed. Why would she even say such a thing? She didn't an idea what was going on!

"Catherine, I know what you're thinking," Sara told her, "And I'm just saying that maybe it would be better if you took some time off toni—"

"I am _not_ having a problem here, Sara," Catherine retorted, practically hissed at the younger woman. The more rational part of her brain knew she was being cruel but the other half of her brain was upset and worried and distressed. "I'm a professional and I can still do my job," she told her. And without saying anything else, Catherine opened the passenger's side door and got out of the car, closing it behind her as she walked off to the front of the lab, her high heels clicking behind her with each step she took.

Sara realized this evening wasn't going to be the most pleasant either of them had ever seen.

As soon as Catherine got inside she walked off to the locker room, getting inside and walking around the lockers to the back where she could have some privacy. Reaching into her pocket she took her cell phone out and dialed Lindsey's number again, praying she would pick up. "Come on Linds…" she whispered anxiously to herself. "Pick up…" She knew Lindsey probably had her phone with her and was just ignoring her out of spite, and that hurt even more.

Oh how had she come to have formed this sort of relationship with her daughter? Her one and only daughter, the… fruit of her loins? How had she ruined it? She remembered when Lindsey was so much younger… they had been so close, and then Eddie had died… and everything was torn apart. She had to start working more and more to support them, Lindsey was struggling in school because of the grief… it was too much. And deep down Catherine was struggling too, and she was struggling even more to balance the weight of work and family on her shoulders.

Part of her understood why Lindsey may hate her… and the other part of her was hoping and praying it wasn't the truth.

After three attempts at reaching Lindsey, Catherine gave up and hit the end button on her phone, rubbing her forehead with her hand. Letting out a long defeated sigh, she looked down at the screen on her phone, only just then realizing what her wallpaper was. It was a picture of Lindsey and herself, she remembered when it had been taken. Lindsey was only seven-years-old in the picture and it was on Mother's Day. They had gone to the lake that day, just the two of them, and had made a nice picnic they ate under one of the trees. She remembered Lindsey trying to catch tadpoles.

Her baby was growing up, she realized, and she couldn't even reach out to her anymore because she had blown her chances of gaining her trust.

Thirty minutes later, after trying to compose herself unsuccessfully Catherine walked out of the locker room to the layout room where she saw Sara looking over evidence to their case. Taking a deep breath for extra confidence that she desperately needed she joined her inside, standing across from her. "What have you found so far?" she asked her.

Sara knew Catherine had been crying, she could see the streaks on her cheeks the tears had made and makeup was running, but she decided not to say anything about it. "I was just testing what we found in the girl's locker room," she told her, "The blood in the drains was a match to the victim," she confirmed, handing Catherine the results from the DNA test. "And Ashley said she took a shower after cheerleading practice and went home."

"So… somewhere in between she got her dead boyfriend's blood on herself?" Catherine asked.

"It looks that way," Sara said, "Unless someone else was in that shower. But I doubt it since I found some hairs in the drain," she said, holding up the bindle containing the evidence, "Blonde hairs. And they look like they may have been color-treated, so I'm thinking… high-lights, low-lights?"

"Ashley had some brown highlights in her hair," Catherine said, trying to remember, "It's been a style lately, I've seen a lot of girls at Lindsey's school wear it."

Sara knew Lindsey was still on her mind, but again, decided not to say anything about it. "I sent some of the samples to Wendy and she's running them now. But since we have nothing to compare them to…"

"Then we need to bring Ashley in," Catherine said. "I'll call Brass. Anything else?"

"Well, Doc Robbins just finished up the autopsy and he gave me these," Sara told her, handing a few swabs over. "They're penile swabs from the Vic- according to Doc Robbins Kevin had sex just before he died."

"Which begs the question…" Catherine trailed off, "Who'd he get lucky with?"

"Or unlucky," Sara said.

"Alright, I'll call Brass and we'll have him book her and bring her to the station," Catherine said, already making a move to leave.

"That's… where things get difficult, you see… Ashley never told me her last name," Sara said.

Catherine stopped, turning around. "…She didn't tell you her last name?" Sara shook her head. "Did you ask her?"

"Of course I asked her but she refused to tell me," Sara told her, "She was terrified, Catherine. She only told me she couldn't tell me because 'they' would know I talked to her. So I'm thinking it was either shock or there's a deeper meaning to the story."

"How could you just let her walk off without getting her name?" Catherine asked, incredulous. "Don't you know the protocol for interviewing suspects?"

"Catherine, I tried—"

"Obviously you didn't try hard enough," Catherine said, "And now she gets to go off scot-free for another day because we'll only be able to identify her by going to the school tomorrow and looking for her." Without saying another word she walked out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded Sara alone in the layout room.

Sara let out a deep sigh, rubbing her right temple with her fingertips as she felt the beginning of what felt like one hell of a headache. A buzzing in her right front pocket caught her attention and she reached into her pocket and took out her cell phone, looking at the screen. She had a new text message:

"**r u online?"**

Sara needed a free computer, now. Rushing out of the layout room, she practically ran down the hallway to one of the empty work rooms, spotting an empty computer. After logging herself onto the network she opened up her messenger.

**CSISidle says: Now I am. What's up, Linds?**

Sara and Lindsey had been talking by instant message for a while now, but it had been quite some time since Sara had last heard from her. Lindsey had asked one day if she could have her email address and Sara had given it to her. She wasn't the best with kids and she definitely wasn't a mother, but she thought it might be helpful to Lindsey if she had someone else to talk to other than Catherine. She didn't want to replace Lindsey's mother of course, but… sometimes it was easier to talk about certain things with other people.

**xxOLindsOxx says: I want to talk to you about something…**

**CSISidle says: Go ahead, Lindsey. I'm always here to listen.**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Can you promise me something first?**

Sara blinked, but responded.

**CSISidle: Of course.**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Don't tell my mom I talked to you about this, okay? I don't want to upset her. **

**CSISidle says: Of course, Lindsey, but… why would you upset her?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: She's tried to call me tonight and I haven't been picking up my phone on purpose.**

**CSISidle says: Why have you been doing that?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: I don't want to talk to her. I'm afraid she's going to be mad at me.**

Sara's features softened.

**CSISidle says: Why would she mad at you? She worries about you, you know.**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Because I went out with Josh tonight and she doesn't like Josh. She thinks he's a bad influence.**

**CSISidle: Is he cute?**

Sara could almost hear Lindsey laugh on the other line.

**xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah, he's cute, but Mom doesn't like him. **

**CSISidle says: Why doesn't she like him?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Because his dad's in jail and his mom isn't the best… but I can't just abandon him. He needs a friend.**

This was like déjà vu all over again for Sara.

**CSISidle says: I can understand that. You have a good heart, Lindsey. **

**xxOLindsOxx says: Something happened tonight… and… I don't want to tell Mom. I'm too scared.**

**CSISidle says: What happened?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: We went out and saw a movie and he offered to walk me home. I said ok and so we started walking home but he said he needed to do something first.**

**CSISidle says: I'm guessing you mean drugs.**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah. And he offered some to me but I told him no… I've seen Lindsay Lohan.**

**CSISidle says: Good move, Lindsey. Your mom would be really proud of you.**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah… but… his friends were there and he kept pushing the issue. I told him I wasn't going to do drugs, no matter what he said or how hard he pushed me. And then… **

There was a silence there that worried Sara.

**CSISidle says: And then what, Lindsey?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Promise not to tell Mom, ok? **

**CSISidle says: If someone hurt you Lindsey, I think she'd want to know.**

**xxOLindsOxx says: No one hurt me though! You promised!  
**

**CSISidle says: Okay Lindsey, I won't tell her. I promise.**

Sara was hoping it wasn't the worst-case scenario that was going through her mind. When Sara was about Lindsey's age she remembered this guy in her math class- he was drop-dead gorgeous. All the girls in her class were falling all over themselves to try and get his attention. Sara was the shy one but one day he had come up to her and offered to take her to the Halloween dance at the school. She agreed and her mother had helped her make her dress which she tediously went over and over with, looking for any possible flaws.

That night, he raped her behind the football field.

**xxOLindsOxx says: It was getting late and I was cold so I told Josh I was going to go home. The smoke was starting to bother me.**

**CSISidle says: And then what?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: He grabbed me… and he said for me to stay, but I didn't want to. I was starting to get scared…**

**CSISidle says: What did he do, Lindsey?**

She wasn't her mother but if this kid had tried anything Sara was going to track him down herself.

**xxOLindsOxx says: I… he just… can you come and see me?**

**CSISidle says: Where are you? Are you at your house?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: No… I'm in the computer lab at school. No one even knows I'm here. Can you come see me?**

Sara could sense the urgency in her tone.

**CSISidle says: I'll be right there. Butterfield, right?**

**xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah. Don't tell my mom, ok?**

**CSISidle says: Okay, Lindsey. I'll be there in ten minutes.**

**CSISidle has signed out.**

Grabbing her car keys and her wallet from her locker, Sara closed it behind herself and rushed down the hallway, putting on her black leather jacket (that she had forgotten she had) on as she did so. She went right past Catherine who followed her.

"What's going on? Did you get a new lead?" Catherine asked her, having long-since calmed herself down.

Sara stopped, realizing exactly who it was that was talking to her. "No… I have to, um… go take care of something," she told her, "I'll be back soon. Call me if you get any updates," Sara said, turning and running out of the lab with her keys, wallet and phone in hand.

Catherine stared at Sara as she left, dumbfounded. What was so important- or personal, she wondered- that she couldn't tell her what it was?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you all once again for reading and reviewing! I'm hoping this chapter isn't too OOC. I just know that Catherine is agitated and upset and frustrated to the point of tears (she told me ;)). This is about the peak of the Catherine/Sara angst… for now maniacal laughter ensues  
**

After making up a lame excuse to Catherine Sara had all but ran out of the lab to her Denali outside. She mentally patted herself on the back for parking close to the building today as she dashed over to the car and opened the door, throwing herself inside and turning it on. After the car was turned on she backed out of the parking lot and started off toward Lindsey's school.

She didn't really even know how she knew where her school was located, but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that she got there and was there for the little girl. She continued to hope and pray to God as she gripped the steering wheel with two white-knuckled fists that what she was suspecting had happened was not the reality. Lindsey didn't need that. She was a good kid. She was innocent.

Running through every yellow light she saw on the streets Sara practically glared at the road as she was determined to be there for Lindsey. If that Josh guy had tried anything Sara didn't know what she'd do. She had seen so many similarities between Lindsey and herself as a kid…personality-wise, anyways. Lindsey had the best mom you could ever hope for. Laura Sidle definitely did not stand a chance against Catherine Willows on the totem pole of motherhood.

As she practically screeched to a halt in front of Lindsey's school Sara almost forgot to turn the car off as she threw her car door open. As she got out of the car and walked into the cold night air a shiver ran down her spine and she wasn't so sure if it was because of the cold breeze outside or the worry that was still stirring inside of her, making her nerves bounce off the walls.

With her car keys clenched tightly in her hand Sara began to walk down the sidewalk, looking around for any sign of Lindsey. The place looked almost like a military academy, Sara thought. The grass was perfectly cut, a lush green color, the walls of the buildings were painted in even tones of cream white and the windows were slick and bland, empty of color or humanism. The building itself was enough to intimidate a 15 year old teenage girl; even Sara felt a little on-edge. It was robotic, and with the combined atmosphere of the Vegas night sky with glares from the lights off the Strip and the full moon out that night, it was haunting.

"Lindsey?" Sara called out, looking around for her. Since Sara didn't exactly know where the computer lab was Lindsey had sent her another text message telling her she was going to wait outside for her, but Sara didn't see her. "Lindsey? Are you there?" she tried again.

The silence that followed her question was starting to frighten her. Surely Lindsey wasn't far…

Venturing a little closer to the building, as close as she dared, Sara felt a wave of relief swarm her as well as a new feeling of worry as she spotted Lindsey sitting against the front administration building on the ground waiting patiently. She could have sworn she saw her small frame shaking. "Lindsey," Sara softly said her name.

The girl's head immediately perked up at the sound of her voice and she scrambled to her feet, stumbling blindly in the night light until she buried herself in Sara's arms. "Sara!" Lindsey wailed.

Sara dropped her car keys in surprise but immediately returned the embrace. "I'm here now, Lindsey," she told her, "It's okay…" She had never seen or heard Lindsey this scared or desperate before. "Lindsey, you're freezing," Sara told her when she felt her pale arms against her sweaty palms. "Here, take my jacket," she offered, already slipping it off her shoulders and wrapping it around the small girl in her arms.

"Thank you," Lindsey barely whispered in response. When Sara began to slowly loosen her hold on her that only made Lindsey hold onto her tighter in fear she was going to leave.

"Its okay, Lindsey," Sara told her, "I won't leave… but its cold, how about we go back to my car and talk?" When Lindsey nodded Sara began to lead her back to her waiting Denali in front of the school, tentatively rubbing at her arms and shoulders with her hands to try and warm her up.

"Thank you for coming, Sara," Lindsey told her as they arrived at her car and Sara opened the door for her.

"It's no trouble, honey," Sara assured her, closing the passenger door once Lindsey was inside. Jogging around to the driver's side, she got inside and closed the door. For a moment there was silence; Sara wanted to give Lindsey some time to warm up and calm down before asking her anything.

"Does Mom know where I am?" Lindsey whispered.

"I didn't tell her where I was going," Sara answered, "She really does worry about you though, Lindsey… maybe you should tell her what's going on. You're her whole world."

To her surprise Lindsey was nodding her head slowly in agreement. "I know," she whispered, "But she's going to be so mad at me, she told me to stop hanging out with Josh and now—"

"Lindsey," Sara started. She didn't exactly know how to word what she was going to say so she was going to trust her gut and not be a criminalist right now. She was going to be human. "If Josh or any of his friends did anything to hurt you, you have to understand that it wasn't your fault."

She watched as more tears spilled over the girl's- Catherine's- blue eyes. "They didn't hurt me, though," she whispered.

"Lindsey…" When Sara was her age she learned very quickly that were many different types of hurt. She couldn't see any apparent injuries on the girl so she just hoped and prayed that what she was suspecting had happened wasn't the reality. For Sara it had started out as a nice safe date at the dance, some flirting here and there and then she started to feel uncomfortable. He had told her he was going to take her home but he wanted to show her something first and she had woefully agreed. It was almost the same story; Josh had told Lindsey he would walk her home but said he had to stop to do something first.

"Lindsey," Sara started again, "There's something I want to tell you, okay?"

Lindsey nodded slowly, turning her head to look at Sara as she wiped at her eyes. She was expecting another 'You should talk to your mother' remark but was completely thrown off-guard at what came out of Sara's mouth:

"I was raped."

The blonde's eyes widened as she looked at Sara in astonishment. "What…?" she managed to get out.

Sara simply nodded in response. "I was only about two years older than you. His name was Kevin; prom date."

"How… how did it happen…?" Lindsey whispered.

Sara opened her mouth to speak but began protesting against it- did she really want Lindsey to know? Then again if she talked about her experience it might help Lindsey feel more comfortable. "Well… he had the car- my parents didn't really trust me with a car, well not really with much of anything…"

"Mom won't even let me be on the computer for more than 45 minutes," Lindsey rolled her eyes.

Sara laughed a little. "Well the plan was after the dance he was going to drive me home. But… he had other plans. He told me there was something in the football shed he wanted to show me. And… I believed him, and followed him inside, and... My parents yelled at me later that night for getting in so late," Sara offered a small smile.

Lindsey had more tears forming in her eyes that she struggled to fight back but it was becoming too much and she started to cry again.

"Hey," Sara whispered, leaning over the center console and wrapping an arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her, "It's okay honey, I'm still alive…"

"Those bastards, I want every one of them to get their dicks cut off," Lindsey angrily cried.

There was the Catherine side showing again, Sara thought with a small grin. "Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought so," she told her. And then, "Lindsey, what happened with Josh tonight?"

Lindsey started crying even harder as she leaned into Sara for comfort. "We saw the movie, and when it was over Josh told me he would walk me home," she whispered, "I don't like being babied, but I remembered Mom telling me the theater wasn't in the best part of town…"

"Well that was smart," Sara whispered.

"No it wasn't," Lindsey cried, "Because then he went and starting smoking weed with his friends, and I should have just turned and ran, but I _didn't_…"

"What did they do, Lindsey?" Sara asked her maternal instincts on overload. She wasn't a mother and had no experience with motherhood but Lindsey was almost like a daughter to her and she felt an overwhelming protectiveness over the little girl.

"He told me to stay, and he tried to get me to smoke some but I didn't want to…" Lindsey said, "And… and I don't know if it was the drugs, or what, but…" she whispered, "He got really, really angry, and he started coming at me…"

Sara immediately tightened her hold on Lindsey's arms.

"And… his friends were laughing," She whispered, "And he pushed me against the wall, and he told me he wanted to have sex… and I said no, and he started trying to take my skirt off!"

This kid was dead-meat.

"Lindsey…" Sara whispered, "Was he able to…?"

"No," Lindsey whispered, shaking her head, "He pulled out a condom, and I hit him and just started running," she admitted, "And I felt stupid, but I just kept running, and the only place I could think of going was the school. I couldn't go home because Mom wouldn't understand," she whispered.

Sara shot Lindsey a sympathetic look, putting a gentle hand on her back. "I can understand that, Lindsey," she whispered. "But your mom would've understood. She cares about you so much, and she worries because you don't talk to her."

"But she's always working," Lindsey whispered, looking up at Sara with glistening blue eyes, now red and puffy from crying. "How could she care?"

"Lindsey, there's not one day that I don't walk into the lab and your mom talks about you," Sara whispered, "It's the truth. She brags about you, she's always talking about how proud of you she is… do you trust me?"

Lindsey nodded, sniffling as she wiped up more tears.

Sara smiled, patting her back gently. "Okay. Then what I want you to do is go home and take a bath. Warm; not hot," she advised her, "And then I want you to talk to your—"

"Lindsey?"

Catherine's voice outside the car startled them both as they turned and saw her standing at Sara's window, peering inside through the glass now fogged up by her rapid breathing. "Lindsey, what are you doing here?" she asked. She had followed Sara from the lab when she got suspicious and what does she find? Sara going to _her _daughter's school, talking to _her_ daughter who was now crying.

"Oh my god…" Lindsey bellowed.

"Lindsey, get out of the car," Catherine ordered, staring at Sara in astonishment. "What the hell are you doing?" she addressed the younger woman now. "Making friends with my daughter, talking about how horrible of a mother I am?"

"Cath, you know that's not what I'm doing," Sara calmly said, opening her car door and stepping outside.

"How do I know it's not?" Catherine asked, looking from Sara to the car with wide eyes. "Lindsey, get out! I'm taking you home."

When Lindsey refused to move, Sara stepped in, "She's cold, Cath," she told her, "So just let her stay in there while we talk."

"She can stay in her _real_ mother's car!" Catherine told her. "Since when do you know about mothering a child, Sara?"

"I'm not trying to replace you, Cath," Sara told her, "She's scared. Don't make this worse for her."

"Making things worse? This is _my_ daughter Sara; go meddle in someone else's life!"

No one quite knew what happened next. It seemed like time skipped. Catherine only knew that she was agitated and upset and worried beyond belief, and that she felt a stinging sensation in the palm of her hand before the sound of skin connecting with skin filled her ears. The next she was standing in front of Sara, wide-eyed with her hand at her side, the skin on Sara's left cheek was bright red.

"MOM!" Lindsey immediately screamed, stumbling out of Sara's SUV to between the two women. "Mom, what did you do!" she screamed, looking over at Sara.

"We're going home now, Lindsey," Catherine told her, staring at Sara, mortified at what she had just done but the adrenaline still pumping. "Right now, get in the car."

"No! I want to stay here with Sara!" Lindsey protested, turning around and putting her hand up on Sara's cheek, "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm okay, Lindsey," Sara whispered, shooting her a small smile.

Catherine felt moisture running down her cheeks and then realized that she was crying-crying out of pity, crying out of sorrow, crying out of desperation and jealousy. Sara Sidle, the female Gil Grissom had a better relationship with her daughter than she did. Sara wasn't her mother and now she was making Catherine look like the bad guy. She knew how much she worked; there was only so much a single working mom could do in one day.

"Lindsey, get in the car, _now_," Catherine repeated firmly but her voice wavered on tears.

"Why can't you ever just listen, Mom?" Lindsey asked, turning around and looking at her mother with the same tear-stained set of blue eyes. "All you ever think about is yourself! Do you even remember what my birthday is? You're never home! I called Sara myself because at least she cares about me!"

Catherine felt her heart rip in two. "June 5," she managed to get out, "That's your birthday, June 5."

"It doesn't even matter, Mom!" Lindsey told her, "Sara was there for me! I can trust Sara; I don't even know how anyone could ever trust you." With that, Lindsey turned and stomped off toward Catherine's Denali.

Sara looked over at Catherine worriedly. Oh this was not how this was supposed to go. Lindsey was supposed to have a calm conversation with her mother in the warm environment of their own home, not in the middle of the street in front of her school at midnight. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. These were the conversations Sara used to have with her mother before she realized she wasn't listening. The only difference was that Catherine actually listened and she wasn't Laura Sidle.

"Cath, look—" Sara started but Catherine cut her off.

"Sara, I don't even want to hear it," Catherine told her, putting a hand up to silence her as she fought back more tears. She knew she was being irrational but she felt out of control and she felt like she was finally losing Lindsey for good, and that was her worst nightmare. "I'm sorry for hitting you but I don't ever want to see around my daughter again," she whispered, trying to shoot Sara a stern look but failing miserably.

"You've gotta slow down, Cath," Sara finally told her, her tone soft and calm. How could she be so calm, Catherine thought? She was ruining her relationship with her daughter! "You've gotta slow down, or you're going to lose Lindsey entirely." She wasn't going to tell her what Lindsey had said, she had promised the girl that, so she was going to her tell Catherine in her own time.

Catherine left in her car with Lindsey without saying a word.

**A/N: I just hope this wasn't too OOC. Catherine was being irrational so I wanted to play how I thought an estranged mother brought to the edge would act in a stressful situation like this :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: God I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner guys **** Life has been extremely hectic lately, my grandmother was just diagnosed with cancer so we've been really busy. Thank**** you all for reading and sending**** your encouraging reviews!**

"Who are you protecting?"

"I'm not protecting _anyone_!"

"You're obviously hiding something."

"I told you I don't know anything!"

"Listen," Catherine whispered to the wide-eyed Ashley sitting across from her in the interrogation room. She rested her elbows on the table as she leaned forward to let the girl know exactly how serious and close she was to losing it right then and there. "You obviously know something, or you wouldn't be trying to hide anything. You wouldn't even tell us your last name, so quit protecting the son of a bitch that killed your boyfriend!"

That was enough. Sara, who had been observing through the observation room opened the door connecting with the interrogation room and cleared her throat, making both an infuriated Catherine Willows and red-and-puffy eyed Ashley glance her way. "Catherine, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

"I'm a little busy right now, Sara," Catherine harshly replied. She had had about twelve hours now to cool down after the scene at the school but she was still fighting to keep it all together. When she had taken Lindsey home, she had stomped up the stairs and headed straight to her room. She remembered hearing a deafening slam as her daughter shut her out once again for the entire night.

"Cath, I really need to see you outside," Sara told her, holding her ground. Sara had long-since gotten used to the wrath of Catherine Willows. She wasn't really angry at Ashley—Sara knew that. She was upset and on the verge of tears. She knew it was a high possibility that Catherine hadn't gotten any sleep; her eyes were circled with black and she came into work that morning wearing the same clothes she had worn the night before.

Catherine stared at Sara for a long moment, hoping that for once Sara would just back off but alas she never did. With a defeated sigh the blonde turned around to look over at Ashley who was still sitting in her chair from before, now wiping at her eyes and further smearing her mascara. "You're free to go." With that she turned around and headed out of the room.

Sara inwardly sighed as she turned and followed Catherine out of the room. When they made it to the locker room Catherine kept her back toward the brunette the entire time as she opened her locker up and started rummaging around for some unknown item. It was just another excuse to not make eye contact.

"Cath, look," Sara started, folding her arms across her chest. "I know you're mad at me. That's no mystery. You can be mad at me; I'm not trying to get you to apologize to me. I just want to make things right."

Catherine let out a dry laugh, turning to look over at Sara with her signature 'yeah right' grin. "Good luck with that, Sara. You know what happened last night?" she asked, finally turning her entire body around to face her. "Lindsey didn't say a word to me. Not _one_ word. We get home and she walks up to her room and slams the door. I didn't get _any_ sleep last night, Sara."

"I could tell," Sara admitted.

"This isn't time for your sarcastic crap, alright?" Catherine snapped, shoving her locker door shut with her elbow. The noise echoed throughout the small room. "You had absolutely no right to do what you did last night! That's _my_ job! If Lindsey needed someone, you should've told me, not gone and tried to be her surrogate mother!"

"Catherine!" Sara exclaimed, scoffing in disbelief. She was still hung up about it. She wanted to not get into another argument—she tried damn hard not to—but she was beyond peeved. Catherine was acting like it was her fault. "Will you please just listen to me? You're not getting it! You're blaming me when you should be—"

"I think I've listened to you enough, Sara," Catherine interrupted. "Actually, I think Lindsey has done enough listening for both of us. What did you tell her? Did you tell her not to talk to me last night?"

"For god's sake Cath you're sounding ridiculous!" Sara cried, throwing her arms up in the air as Catherine took a step toward her. "What am I, the Catherine Willows Nazi? She asked me to go to her, Catherine, what was I supposed to say? I sure as hell wasn't going to say no!"

"You could've _told_ me, Sara!" Catherine angrily growled.

"She asked me not to, Cath!" Sara pointed out, "She didn't want you to know what had happened, because she thought you would be mad at her!"

That stopped Catherine for a moment and her features softened some. "…What?"

"Don't you see, Cath?" Sara whispered, taking a few small steps toward the older woman. "She asked me not to tell you. She was scared, she didn't know what was going on, I doubt she even remembered where she was. She was a scared little girl, and she didn't know what to do."

Catherine's eyes slowly widened as she envisioned her baby in the picture Sara had painted on the canvas of her mind. Just imagining her daughter that scared brought tears streaming to her eyes. "She didn't feel… like she could ask me?"

"She thought you would be upset with her, Cath," Sara whispered. "She went out last night and she thought you would be angry with her. I wasn't trying to replace you- I never was. I don't know how any other mother could ever compete with you. I've been talking with Lindsey now for a while over the internet…"

Catherine quickly wiped at her eyes before Sara could see that she was crying. But Sara had already seen, it was no use trying to hide it. "What…" she cleared her throat to compose herself. "What has she been saying?"

"She talks about you a lot," Sara informed her, "All the time, actually. She's afraid that you're going to be disappointed in her."

"Why would she ever think something like that?" Catherine whispered. She couldn't put into words how proud of Lindsey she was. Lindsey was her whole world.

"She just wants you to be home with her more, Cath," Sara whispered. "She thinks you avoid her and that's why you work so much. She's just a teenager. She just wants that support from her mother. You're her role model, you have no idea how much she thinks of you."

That did it and before either of them knew what was going on Catherine had given up and let the tears that were forming in her eyes fall down her face as she choked on a guttural sob in her throat. Sara took a hesitant step forward, not sure if she should try to comfort her or not. If there was one thing Sara knew she had never done before it was trying to comfort someone. She couldn't even comfort herself.

"Cath…" Sara whispered, reaching a tentative hand out to touch her shoulder. "I—" before she knew what was happening Catherine had thrown herself into her arms as she began to sob. So Sara did the only thing she thought to do—she wrapped her arms around Catherine's back and tried her hardest to console her.

"Why am I such a horrible mother?" Catherine asked Sara. She didn't know what the hell she was doing—she was breaking down in front of one of her friends. Sara, nonetheless, who knew absolutely nothing about comforting someone let alone how she was feeling at the moment. But for some reason she didn't care right now; Sara's embrace was warm and welcoming and that was all she needed.

"You're not a horrible mother, Cath," Sara whispered. "You give up having a social life so that you can work to support yourself and your daughter. When you have time off, you always go home to spend it with Lindsey. You're one of the least selfish people I know. But you have been maxing out on overtime a lot the past few months," she whispered. "Are you trying to compete with me? That's my job."

Sara was rewarded with a small laugh from the strawberry blonde who wiped at her eyes one more time as she shot the younger woman an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Sara. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it, Cath," Sara smiled back. "I don't like seeing you upset." After a few moments of silence and Catherine taking a few breaths and letting them out shakily to compose herself, Sara continued, "Come on. Let's get out of here- I think there's a little girl at your house waiting for you."

Catherine couldn't keep the smile from crossing her face. "You're right. Let's go."

Just as they were about to turn and walk out of the locker room, Catherine heard a voice booming from the hallways. A voice she recognized.

"Where is Catherine? I have to talk to her right now!"

"Miss, please calm down, I'm sure she'll be returning from the interrogation shortly—" Judy was interrupted by the distraught and frantic voice of Catherine's mother once again.

"This can't wait! I have to see Catherine _now_!"

Sara and Catherine both exchanged looks with each other before they walked out of the locker room down the hallway. "Mom?" Catherine asked, confused. "What's going on? What are you doing here?" she asked. "And where's Lindsey? She was supposed to be with you!"

"Oh, Catherine thank God," Lilly panted, dashing toward her daughter. "I tried to call you but you weren't picking up, and—"

"Ms. Willows, calm down," Sara spoke up, holding up a hand to stop her. "Try and calm down and tell us what's going on, alright?"

Lilly looked from Sara to Catherine with wide eyes. "It's Lindsey, Catherine. I don't know where she is!"

TBC


End file.
